When it Feels Like Too Much

Expectations present themselves in every area of life. You're expected to work a certain number of hours, make certain grades, and take care of your responsibilities. As we try to wrap our hands around these expectations, church can feel like just another area of expectation. We walk into church needing relief, but leave feeling burdened with more tasks.

We don’t feel like we can really wrap our mind around ‘living for Jesus’ that well, so we just chalk that up an unrealistic expectation, and let it sit to the side. And when you let an expectation sit by itself, it always grows. Not in reality, but in your mind. The more you let it sit, the bigger it grows, the more monolithic it becomes. Before long, actually making an impact for Christ seems too daunting to even try.

This changes our perception of God.

We think God is not a loving father, but that he’s an overbearing taskmaster who is adding to our to-do list. God is asking too much of me, he’s expecting me to do more than I can handle. We look out into the future and we see things that are too big. It’s just too much.

When we look to Scripture, this is Joshua’s story. Joshua was a guy who grew up under the leadership of Moses. Moses was the greatest leader Israel ever had. Somehow, when Moses spoke up, things seemed to work; they seemed to happen. But eventually, the moment that comes for every good leader came for Moses. It was time for him to move on. Moses died, and God selected Joshua to lead His people.

Joshua had to have felt inadequate. He was scared out of his mind. God offered him those words of encouragement – the ones that we memorized when we were little kids – “Be strong and courageous” (Joshua 1:9). He told Joshua that He will be with him just like He was with Moses. But Joshua is still standing at the beginning of this task. He’s heard what God wants him to do, he’s heard encouraging words from God, but he still has to do something.

And this is where most of us are. We’re not questioning and wondering what God is wanting us to do. We’ve read scripture, we’ve gotten advice, we’ve prayed about the situation, we’re just standing on the edge.

Joshua 1:10 comes directly after God's encouragement to Joshua. This is how Joshua responds: “And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your provisions, for within three days you are to pass over this Jordan [remember, that’s a river] to go in to take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.’”

What does Joshua do? It’s not complicated. In fact, it’s really simple. He starts. Here’s what Joshua shows us:

When we receive direction from God, starting is better than squinting.

So often when we feel the Holy Spirit give us something to do – a person to talk to, something to say, someone to pray for – instead of starting, we squint. We squint our eyes real close and scrutinize every little thing God told us to do. We rationalize this as wanting to be extremely sure that we’re doing what God wants us to do, but it paralyzes us. Obedience begins with action. When we hear from the Lord, we should start.

Joshua heard from the Lord and he told the people to start packing up, because they were going to move. They were starting. They were beginning.

Once you've heard from God, starting is better than squinting.

God whispers the same thing to you that he whispered to Joshua: I am with you. Now go. It’s time to start.